Let he who is without sin cast the first stone

(Father) John Corapi, you, and me

I was shocked to hear about the SOLT press release yesterday about (Father) John Corapi, and about the double life he has lived during his public ministry. That is, until I looked into the mirror and remembered the particular time in my life where I did the same.  That simply brings to mind the Gospel words: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," words that Our Saviour said, and words we must live by.

(Father) John Corapi has an opportunity that I did not have in that period of my life. He has been publicly called to repentance and to return to his community.  When I was in serious sin nobody called me out. I was left to my own devices and fortunately for me God took matters into His own hands largely and pulled me out.

My darkest days looked bright to those around me.  I made really good money.  Though I lived well, I was not ostentatious with the money I had, but I did not spend much of it wisely.  I looked pretty good to much of the world I inhabited.  Most people did not see the shambles that I had made of the most important aspects of my life, my family, my faith.

Then God hit me in the back of the head with a Ford Windstar van.  What grace.  What mercy. That my God loves me so much that he would not let me stray far from Him.   One reason that God came to my aid, was that I had a praying mother, who prayed that God would hit me over the head with a baseball bat.  Maybe somebody else was praying too, and God upped it to a van.

(Father) John Corapi is a sinner. Breaking news. OK, so his sins might be different than some of yours or mine. But the pride with which any one of us puffs up our chest and claims our own innocence is as serious a sin as any he has committed.

He needs one thing from the Body of Christ. He needs our prayers.   The Canticle of Zechariah antiphon today in the Lauds (Morning Liturgy of the Hours) is "Let us serve the Lord in holiness all the days of our lives." May we do so ourselves, and may we in communion with all the saints pray that (Father) John Corapi returns to the holiness to which he was ordained by Blessed John Paul II in 1991.